And this right here is one of the numerous reasons I will not give up, give in, or give out to a lousy attitude, empty wallet, or pure D. exhaustion. This is my almost 9  month old grandaughter, Bells. Short for Isabella Jordan.

I am determined to pick up the pace this next week. I have been falling behind in posts and articles and my house looks like  a tornado hit it AFTER a tsumnami and a hurricane blew through. Seriously.

So where are you and how are you in your Christmas preparations? Whatever point you are at you need to stop, take a deep breath and remember what Christmas really is all about.

Ready for some blogsurfing?

1. Crank it up with Bon Appetit blog and their Baking Play List. Need some tunes to stir by? Here they are.
2. Lori’s Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies
3. Judy’s Pecan Lace Sandwich Cookies with Orange Buttercream
4. Smores Cheesecake Bars
5. What Does Eating Local Really Mean?
6. YeastSpotting: Holiday Edition
7. Chocolate Caramel Bars
8. Candy Cane Macarons
9. Awesome gift idea, The Blogger Aid Cookbook
10. Make your own Marzipan

thats it for this week! I am in just under the wire. It is still Saturday in Texas, folks.

image: Erin Audet Myers, collection of Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

The cookies themselves are made with Hershey’s Dark Cocoa. It is important that for this recipe you use a very rich, dark cocoa to get the level of chocolate intensity that these need. After the cookies are baked they are cooled and filled with a bittersweet ganache, sprinkled with crushed candy cane, and then topped with a Hershey’s Mint Kiss. These are a specialty kiss that I found, a traditional Hershey’s Kiss but filled with a mint truffle type filling.

Roll the cookie in sugar.

The result is amazingly rich, dark, and chocolatey with a fresh burst of peppermint flavor that cools your mouth and cuts through some of the chocolate.

This are going to be a popular addition to the cookie trays or gift baskets you create this year!

Triple Chocolate Mint Christmas Kisses

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
• 1 cup sugar or confectioner’s sugar for rolling
• Ganache filling
• 24 unwrapped chocolate mint Kisses
• 2 candy canes coarsely crushed

1. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add egg and cream and beat well.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa, and salt and blend into the creamed mixture
3. Chill for at least two hours
4. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat
5. Roll  teaspoons of the dough into balls, roll in confectioner’s or granulated sugar, and place on baking sheet
6. Indent the balls with your thumb
7. Bake 10-12 minutes
8. Push the middles back down with your thumb and cool
9. Add 1/2 tsp ganache to each cookie and press a kiss into it
10. Sprinkle with ground candy canes
11. Cool completely

Makes about 2 dozen

image:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

As we move into October it is time to start thinking about cookies and other Holiday baking. 50 Best Cookies and 50 Best Cookies Scene 2 are both good places to start. Remember that you can easily freeze cookie dough OR baked cookes and they will be fine for the holidays. Start picking up extra baking supplies so you will have them on hand when you want them.

• Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies
• Boston Cream Pie Cake
• Salsa Chicken Enchiladas
• Chicken Apple Sausage
• Black Bottom Mini Caramel Cupcake Bites
• Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
• Triple Threat Brownies
• Mushroom Ricotta Ravioli
• Fruit Pizza
• White Chocolate Ice Cream

Post from: Baking Delights

O.k..so it took me nearly all night but I did some baking. In fact this recipe is out of my cookbook….sort of. I found out something interesting tonight. I can’t even follow my OWN recipes verbatim.

Since I am doing pictures at night the color is a little off, sorry.  Someday I will have a nifty light box.

These are a very rich, sweet bar. You ARE going to want coffee or milk or tea… Be sure to let them cook before cutting (I didn’t) and eating (didn’t) because they WILL crumble. If you want thicker coconut cherry white chocolate bars just use a 9 x9 inch pan.

These would be great for a tea, not so great for a lunch box, and do not try to ship them! IF there are any leftover, which is doubtful, wrap them and put them in the fridge.

Coconut Cherry White Chocolate Bars

• 1 cup of flour
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix the 1 cup of flour and  confectioners sugar. Mix in the butter until the dough is crumbly.
3. Press firmly in a buttered 13x 9 inch pan. Layer will be thin.
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until firm and golden.
5. Mix the 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
6. Beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture, coconut, cherries, and white chocolate chips.
7. Pour over the crust.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until firm.
9. COOL COMPLETELY before cutting.

images Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

“Mom! I think Your books are here! Can I open it?”

Within seconds the entire brood is gathered aound barely staying out of harms way as Ethan wields a knife, expertly opening the box and…….

Twenty-five cookbooks! Author’s copies. ….WITH MY NAME ON THEM. Seriously…look at this:

That’s ME!

Not that I am excited or anything, I am absolutely too cool for that… I am still wondering how my name got on these cookbooks.

I heard that amazon im sending out the preordered copies on the 28th of August, so if you ordered your book you may be getting it next week. If you haven’t ordered it an are planning on it please consider heading over to Everything Cookies and Brownies and ordering from there?

If you get a copy and for some odd reason you want me to sign it..I will be glad to. Just email me. Dang, this is exciting! You guys have been part of this… How does it feel to be a guinea pig?

images:maryeaudet

Post from: Baking Delights

These thumbprint cookies fit the bill.

The cookie base is a buttery shortbread and the fennel pollen gives it a delicate anise flavor. There is a crumbly texture which complements the cookie very well. Blackberry jam adds tangy sweetness while white chocolate ganache pulls all the flavors together into one big blast of “WOW!”.

These are a cinch to make. Be sure to use unsalted butter, and a good vanilla. If you like more anise flavor you may want to use about 1/4 tsp. of anise extract in place of some of the vanilla. I think orange marmalade would be good in place of the blackberry, as would a thick fig preserve.

I used the fennel pollen extravagantly because I love the way the little flowers look!

You don’t have to use it like I did, unless of course you want to. The cookies need to bake for about 14 minutes. It seems long but they develop a crumbly shortbread texture which is what you want. I think I would give these as gifts with a nice tin of Earl Grey Cream tea. Perfect for an autumn afternoon!

Incredible Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies

• 1 cup organic unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 3 teaspoons fennel pollen
• 1/2 cup blackberry jam, approximately
• 1 recipe white chocolate ganache

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cream butter and sugar until well blended.
3. Add vanilla
4. Mix flour, fennel pollen, and salt; mix well
5. Form rounded teaspoonfuls into small balls and place on parchment or silpat lined sheet
6. Press center down with a thimble or thumb
7. Fill the centers with about half a teaspoon of jam
8. Bake for 12-14 minutes in a preheated oven
9. Let cool 10 minutes and remove from pan
10. Cool completely

White Chocolate Ganache

• 6 oz chopped white chocolate
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Bring cream to a simmer and remove from heat. Stir in chocolate until melted.

Cover the jam centers of the cookies with the white chocolate.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I just got the news this morning that the author’s copies of the book are on their way. I should be receiving them sometime in the next week.

With being just a week post thyroidectomy I am feeling overwhelmed, flustered, excited, and dismayed. How’s that for a combination? I am feeling very well but my energy drains sooner than usual and it has been hard to keep up with my writing and editing duties. Trying to behave so that I will heal properly and quickly, and I am not so great at that either.

I have set up a site for the book, Everything Cookies and Brownies. This is still my primary recipe site, of course(!)but I wanted to  have a place where readers could go with questions or where I could let you know about errors I found, etc.

So, I am looking for a couple of bloggers that are interested in reviewing the book? I am not sure how many people are going to want to review it, and I only have so many copies, so if you will leave me a comment and a link to your blog I will get back to you, ‘k?  I will even autograph the copy for you…if I can still write. I have used a keyboard for so long I am not sure!

Anyway, thanks so much, y’all. You have been so supportive, so awesome, and so amazing through this past couple of years that I couldn’t have done it without ya. {{{Gargantuan Group Hug}}}}}}

image: Amazon

Post from: Baking Delights

Once I had them mixed up the dough looked too gooey. I have had this problem with the Farm Journal cookie recipes before and I am not sure if it is a flaw in the cookbooks or the age of them. Flour and other ingredients are different now than they were fifty years ago. Anyway I adjusted the flour up a bit and ended up with cakey cookies. I prefer my cookies chewy so maybe that is why I was a little disappointed. The flavor was awesome but the texture was not my favorite.

The cookies were sweet but wanted something a little extra. I made a browned butter glaze to put on them and then they were just a bit too sweet. Sigh.

I sprinkled turbinado sugar lightly over the top and then added finishing salt. In the future I will add smoked finishing salt…but Eureka! I had it.

These are a lot more rich than you might think they are at first. Even my family, although they each have a sweet tooth of prehistoric proportions, was unable to finish off the batch. A miracle! The few that did survive until day 2 were not quite as good, but the weather has been very humid and things go stale/soggy fast.

Butterscotch Walnut Cookies with Salted Brown Butter Glaze

• 21/2 cups of flour (I used 3)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbs vinegar
• Enough milk to make one cup when added to the vinegar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Place silpat over cookie sheets
2. Stir together dry ingredients
3. Add vinegar to 1 cup measure. Add enough milk to make one cup
4. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy
5. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition
6. Add vanilla
7. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour
8. Stir in walnuts
9. Drop by tablespoons onto prepare cookie sheets
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until puffy and golden
11. Cool

Browned Butter Glaze

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tbs unsalted butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Heavy cream as needed
• Turbinado sugar
• Smoked finishing salt

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and continue to cook, stirring, until it becomes golden brown
2. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining butter. This will immediately stop the browning process so it doesn’t continue to cook and end up scorched
3. Stir in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth
4. Add heavy cream as needed for a spreadable consistency
5. Spread on cooled cookies
6. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and salt

Makes 4 dozen or so

images:marye audet (c)2009

Post from: Baking Delights

These are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, with a buttery combination of flavors that just keep revealing themselves as you eat: lemon, white chocolate, nutmeg, blueberry…

The trick to these, if there is one, is to take them from the oven slightly under-done so that they finish cooking as they cool.  The dried blueberries keep them moist for longer than usual if they last past the first day.  Please, if you do try these? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. I am horridly nervous about the cookbook.

If you want a more decorated cookie you can drizzle melted white chocolate across them, but flavor-wise it is quite unnecessary.

If you use all butter the cookies will be greasy and flat.  If you use all shortening they will be tasteless. Lately I have had more people that usual emailing me and telling me the recipes are not good.  Then they list all the changes they made.

Can I just say that when I develop a recipe it usually is over several bakings? I normally try numerous possibilities before I post the recipe. If you change it you are likely to revert to something I all ready tried and discarded as not being good enough. If you change the recipe and it fails, well there is nothing I can do about operator error, is there?

One thing I have noticed is that flour varies from brand to brand and even bag to bag. You may need to use a little more or a little less to get the perfect texture. Be willing to experiment.

Blueberry White Chocolate Cookies

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup shortening
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dried blueberries
• 1½ cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with
parchment or silpat.
2. Cream together butter, shortening, and both sugars.
Add eggs, vanilla, and lemon peel; beat until well
blended.
3. Mix dry ingredients together; stir into creamed
mixture. Blend well; add dried blueberries and white
chocolate chips.
4. Drop by generous, rounded teaspoonfuls onto
parchment baking sheets. Keep cookies about 2″
apart. Bake 8–10 minutes, removing from oven when
just barely done.
5. Cool on pans 5 minutes; remove to cool

4-5 dozen depending on size and how much dough you eat

Post from: Baking Delights

So, everyone who knows me  in real life knows I have these amazingly vivid dreams.  Sometimes when I wake up I have trouble figuring out what is real and what is not.  I think I have reality issues anyway.

But, some of my best recipes have been created from a dream that I was eating something.  My dream last night was amazing.

Apparently I was staying at a small, country inn to help create a menu.  The room where I was staying was incredible with fresh cut bourbon roses on the antique dresser, a beautiful antique bed and embroidered duvet.  Much like my own bedroom, everything was decorated with roses.  The windows were small panes of glass and they opened outward, and I would guess by the color of the light that it was June.

The inns kitchen was vintage but was a dream, with double wall ovens, and a a wood burning oven in the outdoor kitchen which was flanked by the kitchen garden.  There was a huge  commercial stove, and counter space everywhere, yet it still looked like an old and charming kitchen; with a copper apron sink, butcher block counters, and a pave stone floor.  I would love to be able to replicate it.

All of that was very nice, but why am I telling you about it?

Well the main part of the dream was cookies.  Yep…cookies.  As I was walking through the meadow a man came up to me and handed me a plate of lemon cookies like I have never had before.  They were almost like macaroons with lemon curd and white chocolate..the cookie simply crumbled away and melted in your mouth leaving the tangy richness of the lemon curd behind.

The weirdest thing was that the guy was not the dark, brooding, romantic Heathcliffe sort that I would expect to find in my dream…he was very average, middle aged and not particularly attractive..but he made the most seductive cookies I have ever experienced.

So, guess what I will be doing over the next few days?  No! I am married…I won’t be looking for the guy..I will be trying to come up with the recipe for those darn cookies!

I’ll post it when I get it.  And if you happen to see a plain, middle aged man with a plate of lemon cookies? Get the recipe!

image:morguefile

Post from: Baking Delights